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JIGS AND FIXTURES HELP YOU TO WORK SAFELY With all the specialty tools available these days, it's easy to forget how much you can do with a tablesaw. Dedicated jigs allow you to perform repetitive production tasks safely and accurately; they also transform riskier operations into a risk-free routine. If I have to cut multiple pieces of the same size, I can screw a small block to the auxiliary fence that acts as a gauge. (I never use the fence itself as a gauge.) I slide the stock over until it registers against the stop, then make the cut. The stop block is far enough away from the blade so that the piece isn't trapped between the block and the fence. Outfitted with two fences, the sled's guides ride in the miter-gauge slots and make wide crosscuts accurate and safe. (See "Building Skills" on p. 108 for instructions on how to make a crosscut sled.) Rather than run wany-edged hardwood through the jointer several times, I make a sled from a 16-in. by 96-in. piece of plywood. I screw two toggle clamps onto %-in.-thick blocks, then screw the blocks to the sled so that the wany-edged board projects an inch or so beyond and as parallel as possible to the edge of the sled. After clamping down the board, I run the sled along the rip fence, cutting just enough off the board to make a clean, straight edge. 90 FINE HOMEBUILDING